The study and learning strategies of students in a New Zealand tertiary institution
type: CreativeWork
description: This research examined the study and learning strategies of students in the natural setting of a New Zealand teachers college. It was prompted by the researchers’ professional interest as a teachers college lecturer, the need expressed in the research literature for in-depth longitudinal research into learning at the tertiary level, and the contradictory findings in that literature about students’ attitudes towards learning and their ability to acquire a reflective, analytical and critical approach to study. The researcher was interested in the strategies adopted by students when faced with their normal learning tasks in a teachers college setting. What determined the strategies that students used? How effective were these strategies? Did these strategies change with time and experience? Could these strategies be improved? These questions were researched by means of a two-phase research design. Phase 1 was a longitudinal study of a single cohort (n=86) of Hamilton Teachers College students over the three year period of their preservice programme. The methodology here was a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Psychometric instruments used were the Approaches to Studying Inventory - ASI (Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983), The State Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI (Spielberger et al. 1968), The Expressed Vocational Commitment Scale - EVCS (Ramsay, 1978). Factor analysis of the ASI generated some alternative sub-scales which were also applied. Qualitative data to do with learning strategies and motivation stemmed from a series of five interviews over the three year period with two groups of students: 12 students selected for their high degree of a surface-confused approach to study and learning as revealed by their performance on the ASI, and 20 students who were randomly selected. Phase 2 of the research involved a cross-sectional study of Year 1, 2, and 3 students (n = 136, 130, and 102 respectively), and a comparison of the perceptions of students and t…
abstract: This research examined the study and learning strategies of students in the natural setting of a New Zealand teachers college. It was prompted by the researchers’ professional interest as a teachers college lecturer, the need expressed in the research literature for in-depth longitudinal research into learning at the tertiary level, and the contradictory findings in that literature about students’ attitudes towards learning and their ability to acquire a reflective, analytical and critical approach to study. The researcher was interested in the strategies adopted by students when faced with their normal learning tasks in a teachers college setting. What determined the strategies that students used? How effective were these strategies? Did these strategies change with time and experience? Could these strategies be improved? These questions were researched by means of a two-phase research design. Phase 1 was a longitudinal study of a single cohort (n=86) of Hamilton Teachers College students over the three year period of their preservice programme. The methodology here was a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Psychometric instruments used were the Approaches to Studying Inventory - ASI (Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983), The State Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI (Spielberger et al. 1968), The Expressed Vocational Commitment Scale - EVCS (Ramsay, 1978). Factor analysis of the ASI generated some alternative sub-scales which were also applied. Qualitative data to do with learning strategies and motivation stemmed from a series of five interviews over the three year period with two groups of students: 12 students selected for their high degree of a surface-confused approach to study and learning as revealed by their performance on the ASI, and 20 students who were randomly selected. Phase 2 of the research involved a cross-sectional study of Year 1, 2, and 3 students (n = 136, 130, and 102 respectively), and a comparison of the perceptions of students and t…
author: Calder, Ian
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/2dd81746-92f6-475a-8ca0-9339b8e085c5/download
date published: 1989
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:27Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Waikato